Girl Trouble
by Crimzy
Summary: Rukia's gigai starts acting strangely and it has a function that she has never experienced before. Ichigo reluctantly helps her with the situation while Karin becomes suspicious of her brother's sudden odd behavior.


**Girl Trouble**

By: Crim

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kubo Tite.

Author's Notes: This was written for the 7 Day Drabble Challenge at the IchiRuki Community on LiveJournal. The theme was "You better be sick or dead."

--

Ichigo looked over his little sister's grocery list to make sure he didn't miss anything. But in the back of his head, he felt a sense of concern for his covert roommate. He had told Rukia he'd be back in ten minutes and she did volunteer to stay behind to read her KERA magazine "to learn more about the human world's shameless fashion."

_She should be fine by herself for now. _Suddenly, the cell phone in Ichigo's pocket started ringing. A loud familiar voice starts yelling through the receiver immediately after he flipped the phone open.

"ICHIGO! COME HOME QUICKLY!"

"Huh? Rukia?! What is it? What's wrong?"

"Just hurry!"

Ichigo was already standing in line to pay, but the tone of Rukia's voice sounded desperate. Without a moment's notice, he dropped literally everything and headed home. _A Hollow? No… She would've come for me if it was that. Maybe my sisters are in trouble… or maybe it's Rukia._

The athletic teen busted through the front door with a sweat dripping down his brow. His two sisters were surprised by his abrupt entrance. Ichigo looked at Yuzu and then Karin. They were both fine.

"Onii-chan? Where are the groceries?"

_Then it must be…_ Ichigo raced upstairs and ignored Yuzu's question. _You better be sick or dead for making me run all the way back here._

Ichigo barged into his own room yelling Rukia's name. There she was… standing in the shadows of his room with her back toward him. She turned around and slowly stepped closer towards Ichigo. She was hunched over, cradling her stomach.

"Ichigo… I don't know… what's happening to me. My abdomen feels like someone is squeezing it tightly and all this blood started to…" Rukia stood in front of Ichigo with a crimson stained dress and a trail of the same hue was on her leg.

"Rukia!" He held her and inspected her closely and didn't see any wounds or marks. The red stains were all coming from below her waist.

Then it hit him.

Ichigo's body froze from the shocking realization. "Um… Rukia… It's… uhh… gonna be… alright." He may be the son of a doctor, but the evident blush on his face showed he was not prepared for something like this. "Listen, go wash up and I'll go back to the store and get you some stuff that will help your… uhh… situation." Rukia noticed the sense of assurance on Ichigo's flushed face and did as she was told.

Ichigo ran back downstairs. "Hey, umm… no one better use the bathroom while I'm back okay?" He laughed uneasily and smiled like an idiot. Without another word, he was out the door.

Karin thought about it for a minute. "Eww…"

--

Ichigo stared down at the two boxes that men should never have to choose between. "Ugh. I guess I'll get both of them." Realizing that it would look weird bringing these items upstairs with him, he grabbed some random magazines at the checkout line.

--

"I'm home!" Ichigo was on a roll. He rushed home again with grocery bags in hand.

"Onii-san! The grocer—" Yuzu was interrupted by the plastic bag that was shoved into her face by her hasty brother.

"Um. Stay there and be good. I'll be upstairs." Ichigo sped up the stairs with another bag in his hand.

The inquisitive twin, Karin, scratched her chin to make sense out of her brother's weird behavior. "There were girly magazines in that bag and I think he's headed to the bathroom…"

"Karin-chan, do you know what's going on through onii-chan's head lately?"

"Hmm… magazines plus teenage boy plus shut bathroom… It all adds up now." She smirked deviously.

"Karin-chan!" Naïve Yuzu was growing impatient.

"I'll tell you when you're older."

"Whaa--?! But we're the same age!"

--

"What are these?" Rukia was intrigued by these foreign objects presented to her. "A cocoon on a string and a miniature shield made of cloth?"

Ichigo freaked out again and turned his back to avoid seeing those objects that are taboo to men. "I didn't know which one to get so you choose which one you want to use. And there is also medicine in the bag that will help those stomach pains you're having… I'll leave the rest to you."

"Wait, Ichigo." Rukia's soft voice stopped Ichigo from turning the doorknob. "Thank you… for taking care of me. I never expected that my gigai would act this way." Rukia looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"Hey. Don't worry about it. This type of thing is normal in the human world, especially for girls. You can ask Orihime or the other girls at school more about it. Frankly, I'm not much of an expert on this."

"Oh. I see." She lifted her head up again and smiled.

Ichigo closed the bathroom door and blocked the entrance by sitting in front of the door. He rested his arms on his bent knees and let out a sigh. "That was… exhausting."

"Oh, I bet it was, Ichi-nii." Karin glared at her older borther with a wide Kurosaki smirk on her face.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Karin?" 

"Oh… nothing. I'll play along in keeping your new personal hobby a secret," Karin said under her breath. "Yuzu told me to tell you that dinner will be ready in twenty minutes." With her hands behind her back and a confident stance, Karin went back downstairs.

Ichigo's orange eyebrows twitched with anxiety, fearing Karin might know about Rukia. It was then that the said girl's voice echoed through the bathroom door.

"Ichigo, can you show me how I'm supposed to use this _tampon_ thing?"

That request was enough to send Ichigo's face flat onto the floor.

End.

--

Authors Notes: KERA is a popular Japanese fashion magazine. The clothes are usually inspired by Japanese Punk and Gothic designs. KERA features current Harajuku fashion, fashion tips, and also hair and make-up tips. If you've seen the second Bleach OVA, Rukia is reading a Japanese fashion magazine. My guess is that it would most likely be either KERA or Gothic Lolita Bible. XD

Next note is that I don't know if Shinigami or Gigai can actually have a menstrual cycle. oO; I know Rukia's situation was a bit much, but just enjoy the fic for how I torture Ichigo. XD;


End file.
